Keep an eye on your heart at local wellness centers
The recent heart attack scare for former St. Charles Mayor Fred Norris and the sudden death four years ago of St. Charles police Sgt. Dan Figgins prompted a reader to send an e-mail urging people to take advantage of the heart screening offered at our area hospitals.
Most of us should know the factors that increase our risk of heart disease - obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tobacco or alcohol use.
But do we know how simple it is to take advantage of the "Know Your Heart" screening program at Delnor Hospital in Geneva?
The reader was mostly praising the Healthy Heart CT scans offered at Sherman Hospital in Elgin for less than $80.
Those CT scans, which take about 15 minutes, can probe the heart muscle in many layers, locating the calcium-deposit trouble spots in the coronary arteries that eventually lead to trouble.
From his standpoint, Norris said he had been diligent about keeping in shape and being tested, but did say that an arthritic hip made his stress test on a treadmill too painful last January, so he switched to swimming laps and had been feeling great.
"(My heart attack) was an 'electrical short' in the system, so to speak," Norris said. "And after the procedures, and getting the pacemaker, I should be good for several more years."
It obviously wasn't pleasant for Norris to suddenly become ill, be rushed to the hospital and have a pacemaker put in a few weeks ago.
But if it triggers others to consider preventive measures and be more alert about heart wellness, then his story of being saved by modern medicine will serve a great purpose.
Serving as guide: Speaking of Norris, he said he enjoyed his role as a tour guide during last Sunday's history crawl in St. Charles.
He was stationed outside the municipal center and told stories about the Fox River Trail and Pottawatomie Park, as well as the first medical building in St. Charles, where the infamous riot took place over a grave-robbing incident in Sycamore.
"It went very well," Norris said of the history center's event. "There was an interesting mix of people - old-timers and new residents - and everybody just wanted to talk about St. Charles."
Even though he served 20 years as the city's mayor, Norris said he met many new people during the self-guided tours of St. Charles' historic sites.
Entertaining alternatives: With our economy in recession, local entertainment venues are trying to keep us in town.
So far, it seems like an excellent idea.
How can you not be interested when the Arcada Theater in downtown St. Charles recently booked legendary comic Jerry Lewis and is following that with Las Vegas star Wayne Newton on June 14?
Arcada owner Ron Onesti also operates a dinner club in the Old Church Inn site at 18 N. Fourth Street, so the two work hand-in-hand.
That dinner club also offers dinner-and-show packages with the Steel Beam Theater in downtown St. Charles.
Last week, Steel Beam also hooked up with the new Odyssey Authentic Greek Taverna on the east side to hold its opening night post-party after "Wild Goat" debuted on stage. Participants and patrons were invited to the party.
We're seeing the same kind of connection with the Geneva Underground Playhouse using the basement of the Urban Grill restaurant at 524 W. State St. This was all made possible when First Street Playhouse in Batavia had to find a new home.
It all adds up to excellent entertainment options without as much damage to our pocketbooks with the travel time and costs to get to Broadway in Chicago theaters.
No new lights: A reader has asked if the county was ever going to bring back the original ornamental bridge lights that were on the Fabyan Parkway bridge two years ago.
Unfortunately, what you see now is what you get. County officials agree that the other lights were more aesthetic, but those fixtures moved around in the wind. Rather than having a lamp light fall on a passing vehicle, the lights were changed for a more stable fixture.
Almost everyone agrees, however, that the previous lights were a nice touch while they lasted.
This tradition continues: If we can get lucky with nice weather, Memorial Day weekend is one of the best of the year. We're all in good moods because it marks the beginning of summer, but it's not blazing hot yet and the mosquitoes probably aren't out in full force.
More importantly, we enjoy the traditions in the Tri-Cities and surrounding communities. And Genevans have kept one going for 56 years now - the Memorial Day pancake breakfast at Geneva United Methodist Church.
There's a reason you see a big crowd on the morning of Memorial Day at the corner of Hamilton and Second streets. Several people won't miss their annual visit to this outdoor event at the church.
The cost will be the same as last year at $6 for adults and $3 for children, and the church's men's group, which hosts the event, puts the money back into other charitable causes in the community.
So, there's another good reason to fill up on pancakes and sausage Monday morning.
A new tradition: The Memorial Day parade makes its return to downtown St. Charles at 10 a.m. Monday and my service club will be handing out small American flags along the parade route.
The Tri-Cities Exchange Club has been doing this for many years for the Swedish Days parade in Geneva, so we're looking forward to making the St. Charles event a tradition as well.
dheun@sbcglobal.net